Jason Mueller author page
6 puzzles by Jason Mueller
with Constructor comments
See the 21 answer words debuted by Jason Mueller.
| T | S | A | S | C | A | N | T | R | A | N | A | T | M | A | T | |||||
| R | I | P | S | A | U | D | I | O | A | L | E | R | T | M | A | U | I | |||
| O | T | O | H | T | R | A | N | Q | U | I | L | I | T | Y | A | N | T | E | ||
| O | S | L | O | S | A | G | U | M | S | G | I | L | N | O | O | B | ||||
| P | A | L | E | O | T | E | L | E | P | A | T | H | S | O | U | N | C | E | ||
| E | T | O | N | O | O | S | E | A | S | T | I | N | T | R | A | |||||
| R | O | E | E | A | R | A | P | A | R | T | E | V | E | H | A | M | ||||
| S | P | L | A | S | H | A | R | A | M | A | I | C | E | G | R | E | T | S | ||
| E | D | M | U | N | D | R | B | G | Y | E | S | I | A | M | ||||||
| N | I | V | E | A | C | O | O | K | I | E | J | A | R | A | D | O | R | E | ||
| P | R | E | L | L | A | R | M | S | T | R | O | N | G | N | I | O | B | E | ||
| R | E | N | A | L | A | N | A | R | I | O | T | O | N | I | C | |||||
| I | S | P | E | N | A | C | T | E | D | E | L | S | ||||||||
| I | H | A | D | T | O | D | I | S | A | B | L | E | B | E | E | R | M | E | ||
| M | U | D | E | E | L | S | P | B | S | N | B | A | T | E | A | M | ||||
| A | R | M | P | O | O | L | S | G | R | A | S | P | I | I | I | |||||
| C | L | I | C | F | O | O | D | C | H | A | I | N | G | N | A | T | ||||
| T | H | E | E | A | G | L | E | H | A | S | L | A | N | D | E | D | ||||
| I | T | S | A | G | O | I | D | L | E | S | S | E | A | E | N | E | A | S | ||
| N | O | T | I | O | N | N | O | T | A | T | E | D | S | T | E | E | L | E | ||
| S | M | O | M | S | N | A | P | E | S | S | T | R | A | P |
JASON: My original idea for this puzzle was to list all twelve moonwalkers and some additional items to preserve symmetry. I figured with all those entries, the puzzle would be hard to fill, so I asked Jeff for his help. He came up with some ideas to jazz up the theme and did much of the filling of the grid. We both wrote clues.
| D | E | S | I | K | E | B | A | B | S | K | F | C | ||
| O | M | A | N | A | N | O | D | E | S | I | L | L | ||
| E | I | F | F | E | L | T | O | W | E | R | R | O | Y | |
| S | T | E | R | N | E | T | E | T | F | O | O | D | ||
| T | O | R | T | H | E | L | O | U | V | R | E | |||
| S | A | Y | N | O | T | O | K | E | R | R | ||||
| P | O | N | T | N | E | U | F | A | S | K | M | E | ||
| E | N | E | A | R | E | N | A | I | E | D | ||||
| D | E | T | O | O | S | O | R | B | O | N | N | E | ||
| G | R | I | P | N | E | R | F | G | U | N | ||||
| N | O | T | R | E | D | A | M | E | I | A | M | |||
| A | L | O | E | E | T | A | B | A | N | I | S | H | ||
| K | I | N | P | A | R | I | S | F | R | A | N | C | E | |
| E | V | E | A | T | O | N | O | F | G | O | A | L | ||
| D | E | S | R | E | N | E | W | S | E | S | T | D |
I wanted to get a good number and variety of landmarks in this puzzle, and with five well-known places plus a revealer, I think I did just that. The fill is solid, with SAFETY NET, KING MINOS, and NERF GUN providing some pizzazz. Also, I've never been to Paris.
| A | B | B | O | T | S | T | A | F | F | I | T | T | ||
| W | A | L | L | E | C | O | L | O | R | N | R | A | ||
| F | R | E | D | A | S | T | A | I | R | E | S | I | X | |
| U | G | A | S | U | V | S | S | P | I | C | E | |||
| L | E | T | T | E | R | T | O | M | H | A | N | K | S | |
| O | R | E | S | H | I | A | T | U | S | |||||
| I | F | S | O | P | E | S | C | I | A | T | M | |||
| R | A | H | E | D | A | S | N | E | R | T | E | A | ||
| E | C | O | A | O | R | T | A | M | E | R | E | |||
| S | W | I | R | L | S | P | R | O | M | |||||
| T | I | M | A | L | L | E | N | E | X | I | S | T | S | |
| O | M | A | N | I | O | K | A | Y | P | I | E | |||
| R | I | N | E | D | M | U | N | D | G | W | E | N | N | |
| T | L | C | S | E | I | N | E | E | T | A | T | S | ||
| S | E | E | T | E | N | S | E | N | O | R | S | E |
This puzzle's theme is actors who have played Santa Claus in movies. I looked through the entire IMDB list of actors who have played Santa Claus and picked an iconic group that's varied in time periods. Tom Hanks was somewhat forced in order to give Tim Allen a symmetrical partner, but it's quite interesting that Santa was one of several characters Hanks portrayed in "The Polar Express."
I also tried to incorporate some colorful longer fill, such as SHOWMANCE, FACSIMILE, FRESH AIR, and TRICKSTER. I am a little disappointed my original clue for ETATS didn't make the cut; it was "French word that when reversed becomes its English singular." My original grid was a more ambitious 72-word design, but it was revised as Will wanted Ed Asner instead of Edward Asner and Monday-friendly fill.
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
| A | W | E | C | I | N | E | M | A | B | I | A | S | ||
| L | I | L | I | C | E | M | A | N | R | O | M | E | ||
| E | L | I | J | A | H | W | O | O | D | O | W | E | N | |
| C | L | E | O | T | R | E | W | A | N | D | ||||
| W | A | F | F | L | E | I | R | O | N | |||||
| S | A | I | D | I | D | O | S | M | I | D | G | E | ||
| A | T | E | G | I | L | D | A | G | E | O | R | G | ||
| W | A | S | P | C | L | U | B | S | S | W | A | G | ||
| T | R | E | A | D | S | O | N | A | R | N | C | O | ||
| O | I | L | R | I | G | E | M | E | R | G | E | S | ||
| A | D | A | M | D | R | I | V | E | R | |||||
| S | O | L | D | B | A | A | N | A | I | L | ||||
| T | H | A | I | L | E | M | O | N | W | E | D | G | E | |
| A | I | M | S | E | V | O | K | E | D | E | O | N | ||
| R | O | P | E | S | E | N | S | E | S | D | R | S |
This puzzle's theme is, as explained by the central entry, people and things that end in types of golf clubs. It took several revisions to get the longer non-theme fill in the grid just right. My original drafts of the puzzle had the theme entries running downward, so as to resemble clubs in a bag or clubs being held at address.
| A | V | A | S | T | M | E | O | W | L | E | A | D | ||
| C | E | D | A | R | A | M | M | O | A | X | L | E | ||
| T | R | O | Y | A | I | K | M | A | N | I | T | L | L | |
| I | D | S | I | M | E | A | N | I | D | E | A | L | ||
| V | I | E | T | N | A | M | G | A | U | N | T | |||
| H | O | M | E | R | S | I | M | P | S | O | N | |||
| C | E | S | A | R | E | E | L | S | I | N | C | |||
| A | L | O | T | I | L | I | A | D | F | O | C | I | ||
| R | E | P | A | D | E | N | C | A | N | E | S | |||
| A | C | H | I | L | L | E | S | H | E | E | L | |||
| T | O | R | T | E | O | N | R | A | M | P | S | |||
| R | O | M | E | O | L | I | N | D | A | Y | E | P | ||
| A | R | O | N | P | A | R | I | S | M | E | T | R | O | |
| S | A | R | I | A | V | O | N | I | M | H | O | T | ||
| A | L | E | C | R | A | N | G | C | O | S | T | S |
Hi, I'm Jason Mueller, and after co-writing a Sunday puzzle with Jeff Chen that ran back in September, I'm proud to be making my solo NYT debut! Reminder: I'm an alum of the University of Missouri with degrees in physics, math, and economics.
My first draft on this Iliad-themed puzzle had HELENHAYES instead of PARISMETRO, but Will didn't want the theme entries to be three people and one thing (ACHILLES HEEL), so the switch was made.
This puzzle took several drafts to get the fill just right, but Will and Joel had several good suggestions on what didn't belong. Thanks!
| F | A | I | R | I | F | S | V | A | L | I | D | R | A | Z | E | |||||
| R | O | T | E | M | A | O | F | E | D | O | R | A | D | O | N | O | R | |||
| I | R | S | A | U | D | I | T | I | N | D | I | A | N | A | J | O | N | E | S | |
| S | T | E | T | S | O | N | A | N | I | L | S | C | O | S | M | O | ||||
| C | A | L | A | M | I | T | Y | J | A | N | E | L | I | L | ||||||
| H | E | F | A | N | N | E | A | L | S | W | I | N | B | E | R | E | T | |||
| G | E | N | X | C | H | E | G | U | E | V | A | R | A | |||||||
| R | E | D | C | R | O | S | S | T | V | D | A | D | S | E | E | N | I | T | ||
| A | N | O | R | A | K | S | B | O | O | S | T | F | U | R | N | A | C | E | ||
| E | G | G | O | S | K | E | P | I | A | L | L | A | T | A | R | |||||
| C | H | A | R | L | E | S | D | E | G | A | U | L | L | E | ||||||
| P | I | C | K | E | M | P | I | O | U | S | E | M | O | J | I | |||||
| A | G | O | U | T | I | S | B | U | N | N | Y | D | A | T | A | S | E | T | ||
| B | O | W | L | E | R | B | E | R | G | S | L | E | F | T | J | A | B | S | ||
| S | T | A | N | L | A | U | R | E | L | A | U | E | R | |||||||
| T | O | N | A | L | N | I | P | P | O | R | K | P | I | E | S | B | A | |||
| T | K | O | B | U | S | T | E | R | K | E | A | T | O | N | ||||||
| T | O | Q | U | E | E | E | R | I | E | O | A | K | L | A | N | D | ||||
| C | H | E | F | B | O | Y | A | R | D | E | E | C | O | N | S | O | M | M | E | |
| S | U | R | F | S | E | D | G | I | E | R | A | T | E | N | O | O | R | |||
| I | B | I | S | D | O | O | M | S | T | S | R | E | S | T | S |
Jason Mueller: Hi, solvers, I'm proud to make my New York Times debut! About myself: I'm a University of Missouri alum (BS Physics and Mathematics; MA Economics) and former captain of the Mizzou quiz bowl team. I started constructing about three years ago and have previously had a Sunday puzzle in the LA Times.
I got the idea to make a puzzle with people who wear hats with the hats appearing on top of the people around the time of this year's Oscar ceremony. I knew it was a good idea but a difficult one to pull off (what with the hats stacked directly on the main theme entries), so I asked Jeff to help and he came through, helping with choosing the theme entries, doing much of the heavy work with the fill, and polishing my draft of the clues.
We originally tried to fit a pillbox on Jackie Kennedy in the middle of the grid, but when that wouldn't fill cleanly, went for a kepi on Charles de Gaulle. Our original submission had LNG in the fill, so we came up with a revised version (but had to go to 142 words to make the fill clean). I noticed that Will and Joel changed MAA and SAT to MAO and SOT, which is a fine change.